Blaze at cafe next to New Zealand’s oldest building ‘suspicious’, Fire and Emergency says
A fire at the Honey House Cafe in Kerikeri, New Zealand, is being investigated as suspicious by authorities. The cafe is located adjacent to historic heritage sites, including Kemp House and the Stone Store, which remained unharmed.
Why it matters
The incident highlights the vulnerability of historic heritage sites and the ongoing efforts to protect New Zealand's oldest surviving buildings.
A fire at a Kerikeri cafe near Kemp House is being investigated as suspicious. Photo / Kerikeri Tourism
A fire at a cafe next to New Zealand’s oldest surviving building is being investigated as suspicious.
Flames broke out at the back of the Honey House Cafe in Kerikeri overnight, a spokesperson for the cafe said this morning.
The business is next to Kemp House, which was built between 1821 and 1822 by missionaries, and was an important focus for early relationships between Māori and Pākehā.
Another heritage building, the Stone Store, which was built not much later – from 1832 to 1836 – is also next door to the cafe.
The fire had been small, and “both Kemp House and Stone Store were thankfully unaffected by the blaze”, the Honey House Cafe spokesperson said.
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